If you must give a smartphone as a gift, consider this . . .

When people ask me about buying a smartphone as a gift for someone they care about, I suggest that it’s not the simplest of presents.

“It’s kind of like giving someone a puppy,” I say. “It’s cool when you first hand it over, but it quickly becomes obvious that there’s a lot of responsibility involved.”

Indeed, when you give someone a smartphone – particularly a recipient who’s never owned one – you’re giving a whole lot more than a nifty handset. You’re committing her or him to a software platform and ecosystem, a method of staying connected to the world and, perhaps most importantly, a monthly bill. Because of this, it makes sense to think long and hard about giving a smartphone. Don’t just give it because you’ve got one and love it – your recipient may not feel the same.

Ideally, a smartphone should be a collaborative gift, one the recipient knows is coming and thus has provided helpful guidance. But for givers who insist on the element of surprise, there are things you can do to go make sure the present is something that will delight rather than alarm.

Consider these factors when giving a smartphone as a gift:

• The carrier – In most cases, smartphones are tied to a specific carrier. If the recipient already has some kind of cell phone, your gift should work on the same carrier. If the recipient doesn’t have any kind of cell phone, find out if other members of his or her family do, then get one that uses their carrier. The smartphone can then be added to a family plan or a shared data plan.

If you’re starting from scratch and no one else is involved, talk to co-workers at the recipient’s job and neighbors near home. Find out which carriers have the best signals and buy accordingly. Yeah, you may feel like something of a spy doing this, but the knowledge you gain will keep the recipient from the frustration of slow data speeds and dropped calls.

• The bill – This is the one aspect that should give you serious pause about giving a smartphone as a gift, particularly for someone who’s never owned a smartphone. Unless you’re willing to foot the bill, you’re committing the recipient to monthly charges that are beyond what he or she may be used to. If the recipient already has a smartphone, this is less of an issue. But for a newbie, it can be serious sticker shock.

Depending on the carrier and the plan you choose, expect to saddle the recipient with at least a $60-a-month bill if you buy a smartphone with a traditional voice-and-data plan. Under this scenario, the price of the phone is subsidized with the signing of a contract that typically lasts two years. This is sometimes known as a post-paid plan.

These plans typically come with tiered data options – you get a certain amount of data each month, and pay overage charges if you exceed that. A few carriers, such as Sprint, offer unlimited data plans but you may pay more for the privilege.

You can also find smartphones that are sold as pre-paid devices. You pay up front for the phone, and there’s no contract. The owner pays for a certain number of minutes and amount of data per month in advance. You may pay more for the phone because it’s not subsidized by a contract, or you may find phones that are less powerful or are older models, sold at lower prices. If you don’t want to saddle the recipient with a long-term contract, this is a viable option.

You can also buy many phones unlocked, so they will work on multiple carriers. But these will usually require to pay a large amount for the phone up front, though you may save long-term by not having to stick with a carrier contract.

• The hardware – Most smartphones sold today are touchscreen devices, with onscreen keyboards. Some models – such as some BlackBerry models offered by Research in Motion – have physical keyboards, but they are increasingly few and far between. Predictive text, along with visual and sometimes physical feedback, help with the accuracy of virtual keyboards.

You’ll find a wide variety in smartphones sizes, with screens measured diagonally. You’ll find phones with displays well under four inches – such as the older iPhones – all the up to five inches and more, such as Samsung’s Galaxy Note II. A larger screen provides more room for text and images on the display, though this will vary based on the number of pixels being displayed, or the resolution. Some small displays pack a lot of pixels onto the screen, providing a higher-quality look than larger screens with fewer pixels.

But bigger screens also mean the phone will be larger. For people with smaller hands, a large screen phone can be difficult to use. Keep this in mind when selecting a phone as well.

Nearly all modern smartphones come with powerful, multi-core processors. If you’re shopping for an Android or Windows Phone device, you’ll want to make sure the phones have the latest operating systems on them. With Android phones that don’t have the most current OS – at the moment its’ version 4.1, or Jelly Bean – check with the manufacturer to see if and when the device is expected to be upgraded. While not everyone cares about smartphone software updates, those who do get annoyed when they’re not forthcoming.

Finally, look hard at storage capacity. If your recipient has a lot of music or video and wants to keep all that handy, you’ll either want a phone with lots or storage, or one that can be upgraded. Built-in storage will add to the cost, but many phones come with memory-card slots that allow for expansion. Memory cards often cost less than built-in memory, so this can be a cost-effective way to give your recipient lots of media headroom.

• The platform – When you buy a smartphone, you’re also buying into a software platform. Different phones have different operating systems – just like personal computers – and while there are similarities in the way they work, they lock the owner in to a set of applications and conventions.

There are four main platforms out there. Android, which is controlled by Google; iOS, which powers Apple’s iPhone, iPad and iPod touch; Windows Phone 8, from Microsoft; and RIM’s BlackBerry OS.

If your recipient already has a smartphone and you’re providing an upgrade, give hardware that runs on the same platform as the current device. That way she or he will be able to reinstall all the apps that have already been purchased.

If the recipient doesn’t have a smartphone, look at the devices he or she already has. For example, if your recipient already has an iPod and lots of music and video from iTunes, it may make sense to get an iPhone. If your recipient likes to tinker and customize his or her PC, or already has an Android tablet, an Android phone is a good choice.

If your recipient is a total newcomer to the world of mobile computing devices, I’d recommend going with an iPhone or a Windows Phone device. They’re more intuitive than either an Android or a BlackBerry, and the ecosystem is more controlled. For the most part, owners of these devices don’t have to worry about malware or rogue apps. And both types of smartphones will connect to either a Mac or Windows-based PC. (Though Windows Phone handsets work best with Windows PCs, and particularly those running Windows 8.)

If your recipient is tech-challenged and will need handholding, the iPhone is the best choice, mainly because of the availability of free setup sessions and one-on-one lessons available in Apple Stores. Microsoft also offers similar services in its retail stores, but there aren’t as many of them as Apple Stores and there may not be one in your town. (There’s only one in Houston, at the Galleria.)

Finally, be aware that some people consider software platforms to be on the same plane as religion. For example, if you give an iPhone as a gift, prepare your recipient to take some grief from Android fans, and vice versa. It’s silly, but it happens. Give your recipient a head’s up to expect some trolls.

What other advice would you give to someone shopping for a smartphone as a present? Leave your thoughts in the comments.